Attaching apparatus



April ,1940. A. P. BEDFORD 2, l96,l59

ATTACHING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 16, 1938 as I INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 2, 1940 UNITED STATES- 2,196,159 I ATTACHING APPARATUS Albert P. Bedford, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Universal Button Fastening & Button Company, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application February 16, 1938, Serial N0. 190,719

8 Claims. (Cl. 218-6) This inventionrelates to the application of fastening elements to garments or the like, and among other objects aims to provide improved apparatus for attaching certain fastening ele- 5.;; ments in oriented position on the fabric.

other portion of the garment.

The nature of the invention may be readily understood by reference to one form of apparatus embodying the invention and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In said drawing: Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus showing the means for guiding a fastener to attaching position;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a fastener properly arranged and in attaching position;

Fig. 3 is a section through the orienting mechanism taken on plane 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing a fastener in the course of orientation;

Fig. 5 is an elevation of a fastener; and

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the fastener guideway (shown in elevation in Fig. 1) and illustrating diagrammatically a fastener in the process of orientation.

The exposed parts of fastening elements on workmens clothing or the like generally carry some design in the form of a trade-mark, slogan or decoration which should preferably be attached to the fabric with the design properly oriented. The invention is here shown embodied 'in apparatus for orienting a double prong fastener l0 whose top H lies on an exposed surface of the fabric and carries a design l2.in the form of a trade-mark. The fastener is in this instance employed to attach an element l3 of a snap fastener lying on the inner faceof the fabric in registry with a mating fastener element on an- The prongs l4 and I 5 of the fastener penetrate the fabric at spaced points (after which they are anchored 'in the snap fastenerelement) and, therefore, straddle a strip of cloth'which prevents the fastener from being torn free of the fabric by the considerable pull which is frequently applied to separate snap fastener elements. As here shown, the prong I4 is slightly longer than prong I 5.

The design on ,the head or topof the fastener is in this instance embossed" on a decorative top cover comprising a thinf'sheetmetal shell l6.'

The shell may-advantageously be made of brass or plated to render it non-corrosible' It is attached by crimping-its marginaround the: edge of the fastener head and onto the underside thereof. In this instance; the; shell isassembled on the fastener in such position that its design I2 occupies a predetermined relation to the fastener prongs. The application of the fastener prongs 'in'a predetermined position on the gar-- ment'fixes the fastener top and its design in desired positiononthe garment; In the present.

instance, the fastener isattached, to the garment with the plane including its prongs in vertical position, the longer prong '14 being lowermost. In such case the design extends transversely of, the plane including the prongs with its lower edge adjacent the longer prong, thereby bringing it into proper position on the garment when the prongs'are positioned'as aforesaid. If the fastener prongs occupy a'different relation to the garment, then therelationof'the design to the plane of the'prongs should be correspondingly adjusted;

- Prior to delivery of the fastener to the receiv-;

ing device I! in attaching position, it is caused to travel through a guideway 18 with one prong: In the guideway it is.-

in advance of the other. engaged by "adjusting devices which orient itto bring its prongs into a predetermined position relative'to that desiredfor attachment, in this" instance, with the longer leg l4 foremost. The adjusting devices are herev shown in the form of means for applying differential friction" to the fastener to rotate the fastener until the longer prong I4 is in leading position; The differential friction'devices are embodied in a rail l9 resilientlypressing the fastener'head against the opposite wall 20 ofv the passage 2| and having a longitudinal V-shaped groove 22 which exerts greater friction on the fastener head than does the opposite wall 20. Thus as the fastener is pushed toward attaching position, it tends to rotate-in aclockwise direction (looking down on the fastener).

the prongs from the alining restraint of the narrow passageway 18. The widened portion of Y shorter prong at which time it engagesthe sur- To permit rotation at this stage of the fastener travel, the prong passageway is widened as at 23 (see Figs. 3, 4 and 6) to release.

face 26 adjoining and above the low passage 24. Further rotation is thereby arrested and the fastener continues its travel in adjusted position with the longer prong leading.

In Fig. 6 a fastener is shown in the course of orientation wherein the longer prong l4 (distinguished by the heavy black dot) is being moved forward by rotation of the fastener until it occupies a position in advance of the shorter prong. When thus oriented, the prong passage is again narrowed as at 21 to hold the prongs one in advance of the other. Preferably the widened passage 23 is gradually narrowed by bevelled or cam surfaces 28 and 29 to guide the respective prongs into full alinement as they enter the narrow passageway 21. In the present instance, the fastener is advanced by reciprocating blade 30 (Fig. 1) recessed at 3| to receive the fastener head. The blade advances the fastener through the orienting mechanism and positions it in the fastener receiver I! in attaching position.

If the fastener initially lie in the passage l8 with the longer prong in advance, it is already in properly adjusted position and the rotating device simply exerts friction on the button head without causing rotation thereof, since rotation would be prevented by engagement of the longer prong with the surface 26. The friction rail 19 is in this instance resiliently pressed against the fastener head by springs 32.

The orienting mechanism may, of course, be embodied in any form of attaching machine which supplies fasteners and successively advances the same to attaching position. It is obviously immaterial whether the fasteners advance to the orienting device with their prongs abreast or one in advance of the other. The orienting device is here shown embodied in attaching mechanism of the type illustrated in Clark Patent No. 1,798,970 wherein fasteners are delivered from a supply hopper into a raceway 33 with their prongs one in advance of the other. The relation of the shorter and longer prongs in the raceway is, however, a random one, as illustrated in Fig. 3. They may pass into the raceway either with the shorter or the longer prong in leading position. From the raceway they are released one by one into the curved passage 34 which enters the passage l8 at a point in advance of the retracted position of the fastener advancing blade 30. The mechanism by which the fasteners are placed in position to enter the orienting device forms no part of the present invention. Any appropriate mechanism may be employed.

The fastener receiving device I! (which in the present instance is in the form of a pair of holding jaws 35) holds the properly oriented fastener in position to be engaged by a descending upper die 36 which upsets the fastener prongs inside the snap fastener element or other device to be attached. The holding jaws 35 are in this instance provided with a small notch 31 in which the leading or longer prong is placed, thereby registering the fastener in attaching position.

The portion of the garment to which the fastener is to be applied is inserted in the apparatus in a predetermined position. If such portion be the bib of an overall wherein the edge 39 constitutes the top edge of the bib, it is placed in the machine with the outer face down and the top edge 39 lying transversely of the plane of the fastener prongs and inwardly of the shorter prong l5. In this position the illustrative fastener is attached with the design in upright position and parallel to the top edge 39 of the garment. If the upper horizontal portion of the garment be inserted in the machine in any other position relative to the fastener than that illustrated, the fastener shell must be assembled on the fastener in a correspondingly different relation to the plane of the fastener prongs in order to lie in proper position when attached to the garment.

Obviously the invention is not limited to the details of the illustrative apparatus since these may be variously modified. Moreover it is not indispensable that all features of the invention be used conjointly since various features may be used to advantage in different combinations and sub-combinations.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. Apparatus of the character described comprising in combination means for supplying headed fasteners having double prongs one longer than the other and carrying a design on the head having a definite relation to the longer and shorter prongs, a fastener receiving device, means for guiding a fastener to said receiving device, said means including a passage adapted to recciv the shorter prong but not the longer prong, means for rotating the fastener in said guiding means until said prongs occupy a predetermined position with reference to said receiving device.

2. Apparatus of the character described comprising in combination means for supplying headed fasteners having double prongs one longer than the other and carrying a design on the head having a definite relation to the longer and shorter prongs, a fastener receiving device, a passage for guiding a fastener with one prong in advance of the other to said receiving device, said passage having a widened portion to permit rotation of said fastener, said widened portion having a space adapted to receive the shorter prong but too low to receive the longer prong, and means adapted to rotate said fastener in said widened portion until the longer prong attempts to enter said space.

3. Apparatus of the character described comprising in combination means for supplying headed fasteners having double prongs one longer than the other and carrying a design on the head having a definite relation to the longer and shorter prongs, a fastener receiving device, a guideway for guiding a fastener with one prong in advance of the other, said guideway having a widened portion to permit rotation of the fastener, said widened portion having a low passage into which the shorter prong may pass and having a surface associated therewith to prevent entry of the longer prong, means adapted to rotate said fastener as it travels through said widened portion until further rotation is arrested by engagement of the longer prong with said surface.

4. Apparatus of the character described comprising in combination means for supplying headed fasteners having double prongs one longer than the other and carrying a design on the head having a definite relation to the longer and shorter prongs, a fastener receiving device, a guideway for guiding a fastener to said receiving device, means including devices in said guideway for exerting differential friction on the fastener head to cause it to rotate, and means in position to be cleared by the shorter prong but to be engaged by the longer prong for arresting rotation of said fastener when the prongs thereof are in predetermined relation to said receiving device.

5. Apparatus of the character described comprising in combination means for supplying headed fasteners having double prongslocated in a plane diametrical to the fastener head, one prong being longer than the other and the fastener head carrying a design on the head having a definite relation to the, .longer and arrest rotation of the latter when the prongs thereof are in predetermined relation to said receiving device.

6. Apparatus of the character described comprising in combination means for supplying headed fasteners having double prongs onelonger than the other projecting from the fastener head, a fastener receiving device, means for guiding a fastener to said receiving device, said means including a passage adapted to receive the shorter prong but not the longer prong, means for rotating the fastener in said guiding means until said prongs occupy a predetermined position with reference to said receiving device.

7. An apparatus 01" the character described comprising in combination means for supplying headed fasteners having a design on the head thereof and a pair of dissimilar prongs projecting therefrom and having a definite relation to the design on the head, a fastener receiving device,

a passage for guiding a fastener to said receiving device, said passagehaving a narrow portion for receiving the prongs and a widened portion to permit rotation of said prongs about the axis of the head, said widened portion having means for arrestingrotation of a fastener by being positioned and arranged to permit one of said'dissimilar prongs to clear said means but excluding the other prong from clearing said means, means for rotating a fastener in said passage until its rotation is arrested as aforesaid, and means for advancing said fastener in the predetermined position in which its rotation was arrested to saidfastener receiving device. I

8. Apparatus of the character described comprising in combination means for supplying headed fasteners having dissimilar attaching prongs projecting therefrom, a fastener receiving device, a passage for conducting a fastener to said receiving device, said passage having means:

for rotating the fastener and means for arresting rotation of; the fastener by engaging one of said dissimilar prongs but not the other, said means rotating a fastener until its rotation is arrested by engagement of the aforesaid dissimilar prong,

and means for advancing said fastener in the predetermined position in which its rotation was arrested to said fastener receiving device.

ALBERT P. BEDFORD. 

